101 Conversations in Intermediate German: Short Natural Dialogues to Boost Your Confidence & Improve Your Spoken German (101 Conversations in German 2)

Intensive learning : Although it is intuitive to try to “learn” something you
don’t understand, such as a new word, there is no guarantee you will actually
manage to “learn” it! Indeed, you will be familiar with the feeling of trying
to learn a new word, only to forget it shortly afterwards! Studying
intensively is also time- consuming meaning you can’t cover as much
material.
Extensive learning : By contrast, when you study extensively, you cover
huge amounts of material and give yourself exposure to much more content
in the language than you otherwise would. In my view, this is the primary
benefit of extensive learning. Given the immense size of the task of learning
a foreign language, extensive learning is the only way to give yourself the
exposure to the language that you need in order to stand a chance of
acquiring it. You simply can’t learn everything you need in the classroom!
When put like this, extensive learning may sound quite compelling! However,
there is an obvious objection: “But how do I learn when I’m not looking up or
memorising things?” This is an understandable doubt if you are used to a
traditional approach to language study. However, the truth is that you can
learn an extraordinary amount passively as you read and listen to the
language, but only if you give yourself the opportunity to do so! Remember,
you learned your mother tongue passively. There is no reason you shouldn’t
do the same with a second language!
Here are some of the characteristics of studying languages extensively:
Aim for completion When you read material in a foreign language, your first
job is to make your way through from beginning to end. Read to the end of the
chapter or listen to the entire audio without worrying about things you don’t
understand. Set your sights on the finish line and don’t get distracted. This is a
vital behaviour to foster because it trains you to enjoy the material before you
start to get lost in the details. This is how you read or listen to things in your
native language, so it’s the perfect thing to aim for!
Read for gist The most effective way to make headway through a piece of
content in another language is to ask yourself: “Can I follow the gist of what’s
going on?” You don’t need to understand every word, just the main ideas. If
you can, that’s enough! You’re set! You can understand and enjoy a great
amount with gist alone, so carry on through the material and enjoy the feeling

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of making progress! If the material is so hard that you struggle to understand
even the gist, then my advice for you would be to consider easier material.